Where will our next big idea come from?
Friday, January 15th, 2010by Brian Payne, President, Central Indiana Community Foundation
The first questions most people ask me about the Cultural Trail are:
“Where did the idea come from? How did it start?”
In 2001, the Cultural Development Commission was formed and Mayor Peterson appointed me as one of nine commissioners. Our charge was to develop ways to position Indianapolis nationally and globally as a cultural destination city, as well as to make Indianapolis a city of choice for the world’s best talent when looking for a place to live and work.
Our first strategy established the six cultural districts: Mass Ave, Indiana Ave., the Canal and White River State Park, the Wholesale District, Fountain Square and Broad Ripple Village. The Cultural District program promotes walkable areas of town that feature several arts, cultural, heritage, sports and entertainment venues. These areas or districts offer both residents and visitors the opportunity to experience places and neighborhoods versus singular venues. While promoting this idea, I kept hearing from my colleagues, donors to the foundation and board members that the districts needed to be connected somehow to really work.
That spring, I joined thousands of walkers, joggers, roller-bladers, strollers and cyclists on one of the first beautiful days in April on the Monon Trail. As I strolled my young son along the trail, I thought: “Why couldn’t we build an urban version of the Monon downtown to connect the Cultural Districts?”
The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. The more I talked to young people and families moving to Indianapolis, the more I heard that the Monon Trail was one of their most valued assets in Indianapolis. Over time, after literally hundreds of conversations and generous financial support, it has become a reality. I’ll admit: it is so much more than I ever initially envisioned. As the Cultural Trail vision has grown due to the involvement and creativity of hundreds of partners and supporters, so too have our ambitions. We now know that the Cultural Trail will not only change the landscape of a city, but also the values of its people.
The real lesson from this story is that the idea of the Cultural Trail was inspired by something we already have and that already works well – the Monon Trail and our greenway trail system.
It begs the question: What else do we value so highly, already works well and could be leveraged into the next big idea for Indianapolis? Send us your thoughts.